Synopsis:
A hairdresser to the stars has turned the highs and lows of motherhood into a bittersweet comedy – in the unlikely setting of a call centre selling sex toys.

In a busy call centre, the four female employees of Aphrodite, a sex toy manufacturer, take telephone orders for Teasey Maids, Titivators and rotating pearly G-strings. Beneath the cheerful customer service and easy banter however, these very different women nurse their own desires and disappointments.

Sylvie (played by Grace Hitchin) is desperate to have a baby and talks about nothing else. Janice (played by Mandy Orr) is a busy working Mum of five children who can’t remember who she was before she had children. Tiffany (played by Rachel Bartlett) is young, single and out for a good time with no plans for a baby to ruin her fun and then there’s Lily (played by Katherine English), stuck for many years in a loveless marriage and with a strained relationship with her son. Their ever patient and innocent manager Mr Causeway played by Paul Cook holds a longstanding crush on the oblivious Lily.

Anna Longaretti’s experiences of being a mum, from the decision to have a child to the difficulty of letting go as her daughter grew up, inspired her debut play Sex Cells which premiered at London’s Hammersmith Riverside Studios in October 2013 to great acclaim.

When asked what attracted her to this play director Jo Sterkenburg said, “Sex Cells is a very funny, poignant play about motherhood, friendship, love and loss. It is interesting to see how four very different women cope with motherhood from a woman desperate to have a child to a mother whose relationship with her son is floundering”.

She continues “The cast that I have selected manage to convey each woman’s own sense of desperation with believability and sincerity. I am sure many people in the audience will identify with at least one of the characters and what they are going through.”
Interpretation: Mature content – not suitable for children under 18 yo